By: Laura Chapman
Assistant Sports Information Director
chapmal@juniata.edu • juniatasports.net
CENTERVILLE, Mass. – It has been a year of first for the Juniata College men's soccer team. They finished the regular season 12-5-2 overall setting the program single season record for wins. The Eagles then earned their first ever post-season bid and upset top-seeded Catholic University of America in the first round of the Landmark Conference playoffs. After falling 1-0 to now back-to-back conference champions Susquehanna University, Juniata has been selected to participate in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III South Men's Soccer Championship, the organization announced Monday night.
"We're just happy to get the opportunity to play," said head coach Dan Dubois. "It would have been fine to go on the road, but it's even better to play at home and get the seniors another game at home in front of their fans, and their family, on their field. That's a huge bonus."
The Eagles have earned the No. 6 seed and will host No. 5 Lebanon Valley College in the first round at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 13. The Dutchmen finished 10-7-3 on the year and lost in the first round of the Commonwealth Conference Tournament in double overtime, 1-0, to eventual conference champions Lycoming College.
"What I remember of [Lebanon Valley] from when we were playing them when we were still in the Commonwealth, they are a very competitive program," said Dubois. "They've had a lot of good results in past years. I believe they beat [Elizabethtown] this year and that's a great result. They are a good team. I'm looing forward to the challenge of playing them tomorrow."
The two teams last met in 2006 with the Dutchmen prevailing 5-1. In 2005 the teams played through 110 minutes without a goal and ended in a tie. The Eagles have defeated Lebanon Valley on four occasions, most recently in 2003 in Huntingdon by a final score of 2-0. The Dutchmen are making their fifth straight ECAC appearance.
"Being selected to be in the tournament at all is great," said Dubois. "Conference playoffs is a goal that we had set, we reached that, ECAC is also a goal that we set if we couldn't get to NCAA, and we were able to do that to. The season has been a success all of this is bonus soccer that we get to play. It's stuff we couldn't schedule. Our goal was to be able to get here and we did. Having the opportunity to see how far we can take it is great.
For the full ECAC release, click here.
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